Spain shows signs of being on the mend

Madrid

FEWER Spaniards stood in jobless queues in 2014, consumer spending rose and banks boosted lending - all signs pointing to Spain's economy getting back on track after six years of a gruelling financial crisis.

The number of people registered as unemployed in 2014 dipped by 253,627 to 4.45 million, the country's labour ministry said this week.

It was the second consecutive yearly drop since a decade-long property bubble burst in 2008, throwing millions of people out of work.

While the unemployment rate - which is calculated differently - was 23.67 per cent in the third quarter, one of the highest rates in the industrialised world, the dip in the jobless numbers last year gives a ray of hope to job seekers, many of whom have seen their unemploymen…